So…
*deep breath*
So some of you may remember the story of the blog, and how I took this up as a hobby while I was puttering away at getting a home-business established. And you may have noticed that I actually put a fair amount of time in it, and finding other wonderful blogs, and things like that there.
In related news, the day only has 24 hours in it.
Did you all know that??
I hate when rules or physics or natural laws or whatever get in the way of my fun.
People have often – and I truly mean often – overestimated the popularity of IPoMP. This has honored but greatly confused me.
So the other day, some little trampy chick said something about that and I grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into a brick wall. (Well, a virtual brick wall, we were on Twitter.) I got right in her face and screamed, “WHY?? TELL ME WHY YOU THINK THAT!!!”
She spit out a tooth and whimpered, “Your comments! You get so many comments!”
“Huh,” said I, releasing her. Then I threatened to tell the world about her escapades with the left handed bee-keeper if she ratted me out and let her go.
I promise I am going to tie this all together. Stick with me for a few more sentences.
I think that I get so many wonderful, funny, generous, loving, hysterical, heartfelt, encouraging comments because funny is just easy to respond to. It’s so effortless to add to the punchline (which I love) or offer a laugh (which makes me feel wonderful) or share an amusing anecdote (which makes me smile), that perhaps that is the reason so many of the generous souls who read my blog also leave me some words to remember them by.
And, up until a week ago, with rare exception I have responded to every single one of those beautiful comments.
But that mystery thing that seems to make leaving a comment on IPoMP such a compelling thing to do has made responding to them…more than I can manage.
Oh, I am crying now. How silly am I?
Many of you are bloggers and you now how real you feel, how real your audience becomes, when those comments are left. And it has always felt to me like a conversation that you are having with me, and so to not answer you would be, well….rude.
And my mama taught me manners.
But that home-business that I took a break from because this – this bubble-happy domestic-disaster points-festival blog of mine that was such a reward for someone who has her whole life wanted to write – is calling to me to tend it and make it happen.
So I need to carve some time out of those damned 24 hours.
Something must go.
Reading others’ blogs? No.
Writing IPoMP? NO!!
That sort of only left one thing. Responding to your wonderful, incredible comments.
And I hate that it will feel – has felt this past week – like I am not having a conversation with you any more.
But hours cannot be picked like fruit. Time flies like a banana. Or something.
There was a metaphor that was meant to be in there somewhere but it escaped.
If you ask me a question (that’s not rhetorical) in the comments, I will respond to it. If there’s something you really want to share with me in a conversation, I will always answer your email. Posts here will go from 5-6 times a week to 3-4 times a week, at least for now.
But I promise to keep reading and loving each comment you leave me.
And I promise to keep writing funny, saucy, pumpkin-tramp bashing, kid-selling, laundry-hating posts here to make you laugh. Like this one, or this one, or when I’m feeling particularly brilliant with the graphics program, this one.
Pinky-swear.
In Pursuit of Martha Points 
Still love you, baby — keep up the excellent, hilarious work! : )
We all reach a point where something has to give. It’s understandable.
Time flies like a banana
It’s true. Have you SEEN what bananas can do these days? Freaky
Take care of you
KLZ just quoted Pretty Woman. And I fell in love. Anyway. Don’t sweat or get angsty. It’s not attractive.
I think you made a smart choice. The e-book I was on about last week makes a very solid case for not responding to comments. I would rather read your words than get a email that you wrote me back. You are still going to be on Twitter, right? RIGHT?
I totally agree! That’s one smart ebook. How come you always seem to know the cool ebook, Kristin?
Because every great writer and friend needs to take a break and play on Twitter every now and then!
Good luck with your business, and hope you have a happy day today! : )
Life happens. Enjoy it and don’t sweat the small stuff. And by small stuff, I mean not being able to comment to your legion of followers. We understand and love you not one iota less.
I’m right now at the point where I will have to be making some decisions in regards to my blog. My job is changing and I’ll be learning a lot of new stuff, in addition to my old stuff, so I won’t have the luxury of time anymore. I know this was a difficult decision for you to make, as it will be for me.
Holy shit. Bananas fly? Don’t answer that. I can consult the google gods on that one.
It’s hard finding that perfect balance, but know that your sanity and well being come first. We as bloggers get that. Keep shoveling out the goods and we’ll keep coming back like crack addicted hookers ;)
I’ll miss you but I understand! There have been times when I have told my kids to raise themselves while I respond back to comments.
As long as you still write here a few times a week, tweet with me, and send me chocolate, I will be right here by your side. ;)
I come here for a smile, a laugh, and a glimpse inside your world.
I’m not going anywhere.
Love you so much…
Frankly, I’ve always been kind of shocked/amazed (but quite amused) that my handful of comments that I’ve left behind here have always received a response. I’ve never come to expect it from any blog, article, or other similar venue. It was a welcome personal touch, but one that is understandably necessary to leave by the wayside–blogs aren’t necessarily supposed to be a writer/reader dialog, right? That’s what a message board is for? Or something? Regardless, if that means more time for more posts, I say chuck the ol’ manners in the bin. Besides…this is the nearly post-web 2.0 *internet*….& manners are SO Windows 95. Or something. Something, indeed.
I also vote that this new chunk of time be spent on taking & posting more f-stop perfection photographs. Please?
I’m with you girls, and as I told Nichole, this is what my strategy has been for a while. I think people would much prefer me to see what THEY have to say instead of getting an email about what I said.
And like you, if there is something left in the comments that begs for a response, I’ll gladly give it. But I’m definitely of the camp that the time I spend “interacting” with others via blogs be me on their blogs instead of emailing a response.
Honey, no stress, honest!
What with all the “working” and “reading of other blogs” and “Spaniard -ing” (um…wah?) I’ve got to do on a daily basis, I hardly ever reply to comments. Not because I don’t want to but because sitting down to “blog” (including not only the writing of posts, but the requisite visiting, reading and commenting) is already a 3 – 4 hour endeavour and really? If I’m not getting to climax, I rarely devote such time to anything.
Fear not, sweet one. We know you love us.
Well, I do anyway.
I mean…have you SEEN my ass?*
*Rhetorical question requiring no response. Also it’s OBVIOUSLY awesome.
Much love, sweetness.
– B x
How long will this policy be in effect?
How does it make you feel?
Do you think you’ll still read MY blog?
How much time do you estimate this will free up for your business?
Can you provide us periodic updates on how this new policy is going?
Thank you,
A Fan
I used to respond to every comment with an email (I don’t have your fancy wordpress responding in the comment section abilities) but it got to the point where I had to make the responding or blog reading choice, and blog reading won out.
Make that business soar. (I’m sure that you will) We will all still be here reading and laughing (and sometimes crying, because we laughed so hard) no matter what, because you are awesome! And tweeting at you, because if you quit twitter I will cry (and not because I am laughing!)
You already know how I feel.
I’ll keep reading, even if you don’t answer. Sometimes I don’t comment, so we’re square.
What? You mean you are a person with a whole life and not just a blog? Hee hee I have yet to experience the issue of having too many comments to respond to, so though I’m a bit jealous, I’ll still be here reading you every time you post because you’re awesome!! Best wishes for lots of success with your business!
THANK GOD! I’m so tired of your funnier-than-me responses. ENOUGH!
Yes, exactly!
Echo
There has got to be some Martha Points for prioritizing, right? Good call, my friend.
Does this mean there will be more time for videos of your singing?
See, and here I thought you just didn’t like me anymore. Thank you for assuaging my crushed self-esteem. ;o)
You and Nichole’s posts have given me permission to do what I have been wanting to do as well. Ok “wanting” is not a good word. “needing” is better. I am not getting work done because I feel like I need to be on top of everyone’s comments. That has made me a sucky teacher, a sucky wife/mom, a sucky blog reader/commenter. just sucky.
so i am going with this as well.
i hope people don’t take their citizenship from the Nation elsewhere.
love you guys!
I posted about this the same day Nichole did! Bloggers understand, they do.
Since I sometimes read & don’t comment, I think it’s fine that you don’t comment back.
I’ll just tweet you when I want a response. Lol!
I do get this. I work, go to online school & love to read. Twitter & reading/responding to blogs sometimes gets forgotten. Of course I feel a little left out when I come back & realize I missed a lot of fun things :(
Hope your business does well :)
I know this doesn’t make much grammatical sense, but I kind of wish your blog was titled: In Pursuit In Martha Points, thereby resulting in the acronym: iPimp. Oh what could’ve been.
No worries, I’ll keep leaving comments. :)
Hey Lori,
While I was unaware of the twitter angst, as I’ve bowed out of that ring… you may have also noticed less of me around here as well. I have been on the same road my friend. Here’s to balance. Cheers.
Dana
We understand, even us less popular bloggers, we understand. Get your balance on!
As long as you are READING the comments, it is good enough for me. And just so you know? Humor is not the only reason people are leaving comments here in droves. I think MY BLOG is pretty damn funny but I’m not getting nearly IPoMP numbers of comments. You’ve got something else going on over here. Don’t sell yourself short.
It’s going to be ok. Best wishes for your business. :)
I will still come and read. I will still comment if I am coherent enough to be intelligible.
Cause your awesome.
I get it! I totally know where you are coming from. I get so many comments and I love them all and I wish I could respond to them all and maybe visit their site as well. But there isn’t enough time in the day!
I’ve cut down my posting to 2 times a week so I can keep up and while it’s working for now, it’s still a challenge getting everything done…
You had me worried! When I first started reading this, I thought the post was going to be about you not blogging any more. And I was relieved to find you were just talking about scaling back and handling comments.
The comment replies are a nice touch, but they aren’t the reason why I love your little corner of cyberspace so much. As long as you keep writing it (and drawing it), I’ll keep coming back.
Lori, we love you whether you respond to comments or not.
Although if you’re going to start talking about flying bananas, we may force you to respond so we know you’re not locked in a padded room.
Much love.
Your posts amaze me because of how easily they seem to flow from you and how seamless they are. It takes me too much time to do one. I’m probably not as intelligent as you, though. I won’t hold it against you particularly once we work out my share of this business you’re starting.
Who’d a thunk that I’D be the least angsty out of our jolly little threesome?
That’s right, I said threesome.
Wait – does this mean I can babble on and on here and say whatever I want? Can I try to force you out of hiding? Hmmm…
xo
Honestly, I don’t know how in hells bells you were keeping up with it all. 5-6 simply smashing posts in a week?
50 million comments to respond to?
It makes my head hurt. HURT. You go, girl. I shan’t be offended for no response. I shan’t. But I will still love to read your 3-4 weekly posts. That is more than I can ask for.
you & nichole both are awesome. i will keep reading. no worries there! i completely understand this decision. I was responding to comments as well (& i don’t get as many as you two!) and it quickly became overwhelming.
We get it. Keep writing!
Yay for you! I totally get it. Still love you. :) I struggle daily with how to balance it all. To be honest, I have NOTHING to do at work so I’m pretty much blogging/tweeting/reading blogs full-time right now and I can’t keep up. We will start to get busy in a few weeks and this will all go by the wayside, and I don’t want that to happen. Will have to find a way to work it out.
I’m fairly new to reading your blog and those of the awesome ladies in this bloggy circle, but I enjoy you all very very much, and am learning a lot about expanding my blog just by stalking everyone else’s. But when you hit the big time, something has to give, right? :) Glad it wasn’t the blog itself.
Mother Hen thinks that Ms. Lori writes the bestest replies, but since she is in awe of all the daily posting on IPOMP, she can hardly complain. Maybe one day the Blog Fairy will wave her magic wand and give all worthy bloggers a salary to keep blogging?
I’ve taken to not leaving so many comments because I have been reading a lot of blogs on my phone (because I’ve been spending a lot of time away from home the last few weeks) and it’s not so easy to leave comments from there and so easy to get sidetracked. I was trying to catch up on comments that I haven’t left you a few days ago because I wanted you to know I WAS reading, but I got sidetracked anyway! We put so much presssure on ourselves. I will never stop reading, I adore you.
I am so relieved that you actually let Cheryl keep her teeth! We women have a hard time pulling off a good-looking-ness with missing teeth.
I totally understand where you are coming from, my friend, and I am hoping that you will find new balance between the things that are vying for your attention. Especially those darn things that actually make money for us!
In the meantime, your comments will not dwindle, you will still have laughs reading many of them, and we will still be here to enjoy your sense of humor. And you are wise to make the choice that you made.
And I’m an ass because I really had to THINK about what IPoMP stood for.
I thought it was some new thing like WordPress or one of those bloggy stat things I don’t follow or pretend to understand.
You only get this one life.
And each day has only 24 hours.
Choose wisely and all will be fine.
You know what’s right for you, Lori.
Good job for not only recognizing it, but then making it a reality.
Proud of you.
MP: I read this a few days back, but wanted to wait till the end to comment. I finally got an email and a DM blasting me for ignoring people.
I knew it was coming.
Saw it coming.
What’s a person to do.
I apologized. Explained that I work 2 PT jobs, have 3 children, tend a home am trying to REALLY WRITE and go somewhere with this writing. I have to clean my home, shop, cook, work, and SPEND TIME WITH MY CHILDREN. I also have to exercise and get sleep.
So, if I lose followers, well, that’s the nature of the beast. I don’t worry about losing followers, I worry about people thinking that I think I’m something.
People: I am not fooling myself with delusions of grandeur. I just don’t have the freakin time. As it is, this blogging and visiting and getting back and tweeting takes 4 hours a day.
I can’t do it.
Thanks for the space to spout off.
Love you, girl